I must say, that browser stores for autofilling more than adresses and these “others” are impossible to delete from settings.
I will write this as the manual, because I did work on it long and it can help many people.
There are many of autofilling issue already, some not answered or answered only by hidding this issue, so if this will not be repaired or handled somehow in brave I can be still constructive at least.
This advice did not work for me:
“Settings → Privacy and security → Clear browsing data → Advanced → select Autofill form data → Clear data.”
And settings of autofill adresses can be only deactivated -to catch new values- and -of filling stored-. They are still there waiting to activate.
So if you are here to find how to clear some autofill data, here I go
Steps to fulfill this quest:
1) install anything what opens SQLite3 databases
for example I used "DB Browser for SQLite"
2) close your Brave browser (maybe copy this instructions somewhere first ;) )
3) open database file "Web data" in folder "C:\Users\yourUserfolder\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\"
* AppData is hidden directory so if you do not see it copy its name or write it manualy inside directory row
* select all file types (*) if you are using some open file dialog, because file we are opening is without extension
4) inside database browse data of table "autofill"
5) select and remove unwanted rows
6) save changes and close database
7) open Brave and if you do not wanna use autofillings again you can go to brave://settings/addresses and disable "Save and fill addresses"
It is not simple, but still I am not writing about whole IT detective work there.
I hope this helps!
thanks for putting this info here. Looking at this, it feels a lot more complicated than just having an option in the settings to save or not save form data like google searches or text inputs from fields forever. Having to do all this, I’d more rather just use a different browser that I don’t have this difficulty with.
This is a potential privacy issue. During remote meetings, there are fields that autocomplete where I’ve previously used private links (e.g., to Google Docs). Autocomplete then will show previous entries, displaying these private links as autocomplete options and making them visible to others.
Please provide a way to turn off autocomplete for any form field.
@nitrem - there is no emoji feedback option for your post (maybe it’s too old) but you deserve one because your writeup is the only solution I’ve found that works, so:
I find it very surprising that not all autofill values are accessible via the native settings UI. As @tedmyoung notes, it is a privacy issue and I’ve had field values pop up at inappropriate times.
I DO want to have my payment methods and addresses saved and auto-fill when appropriate.
I DO NOT want random form fields (typically search fields) to have auto-fill suggestions… I had an issue where I was working with a colleague and multiple times the auto-fill on sites I HAD NEVER USED suggested terms that I had also never used… my son or daughter must have entered on my laptop… This is not good!
There should be an “Autofill - Other” that is for form fields that are not payment details, passwords or addresses… the workaround for me is to have to clear addresses & manually type them in (which is annoying but at least respects my privacy!)
nice necro-posting to complain about something you can turn off…
you can go to brave://settings/payments and turn it off or keep it on as it seems you want it.
And that’s different from brave://settings/addresses which is the one who controls the suggestions in input-box html elements. Which as you can see you can also turn off. Only because it is on by default, doesn’t mean you have to use it.
This is how Chromium works and it is a browser’s feature, and it is stored in the Web Data (sqlite file so you need a sqlite viewer) file in your User Data, and all it does is it matches any input-box with an ID and then display whatever value was input in whatever place else with the same ID, that’s all it does, and that’s why you could turn it off and manually add your addresses and information.
Also, you can easily delete in the inputbox by shift+delete or delete it with ctrl+shift+delete and remove the autofill data completely, if you want to be more specific you need to edit the Web Data file, but maybe there is an extension that can do that easily.
You, as a parent, maybe should worry what your kids are browsing anyway and don’t give them all the freedom, also, they should have their own computer profile, not even the browser one, and if they are not old enough, it should be a restricted profile from many things which can be managed by policies and stuff like that.
This is how browsers work, and nobody is seeing your autofill data, you manage your privacy, yourself!.
It is not possible to turn off auto-fill for random search fields on websites I haven’t visited UNLESS I also turn off the address feature.
Obviously nobody has to use the addresses feature… but clearly you didn’t read my post… I want addresses… not search fields to be populated… perhaps you have a reading comprehension issue.
This is filed under Brave Feature Requests / Desktop Requests as it is a feature request.
I know how to individually remove items but if you are suggesting this is a solution - you are wrong! Ridiculous suggestion
It is not possible to simply turn off the search suggestion feature WITHOUT also affecting addresses…
Thanks for the parenting tip, it was simply an example of which I could have included others… if I search for ANYTHING it will be stored… and it should be an option to avoid this accidentally being displayed as an autofill suggestion next time in use any search box on any other website…
If you do not understand this, then what are you doing commenting on sensible feature suggestions? There is a difference between addresses & search history… I don’t need a lesson on how Chromium works… I need the feature suggestion of splitting addresses & search history (as they are DIFFERENT) to be acknowledged
In terms of “necro-posting” - clearly it’s an outstanding issue for some time, are you suggesting that a new feature request should be submitted? I searched for the issue before posting to avoid duplicating issues. But if you suggest I should file a new feature request then I will do so.
“delete in the inputbox by shift+delete or delete it with ctrl+shift+delete and remove the autofill data completely”
This is the one line that helped me in this thread. Too bad it had to be part of a judgmental wall of text.
I had accidentally copied a password into a bank login input box along with my username, and brave decided to save it there forever. Who knows if it’s saved encrypted on my machine. the shift-delete tip helped me avoid trying to manually edit the DB. I agree that this is a huge privacy/security issue. There should be a more obvious way to clear autofill entries for a site or turn off the saving of random field inputs.
“Addresses” does not include this data. If turning it off also disables saving of random fields, that is definitely not explained in settings. Clearing cache or deleting cookies does not clear it. Sure “you manage your privacy, yourself!”, but you should not have to spend hours searching for ways to turn off every little flaw built into software. Software developers have a responsibility to make it easy for people who do not have masters in cybersecurity.
Thanks a lot for mentioning this! Same problem, password stored in the username field, happened to me by my mistake, and that was the reason why I investigated for a way how to remove the line from database.
Thanks a lot for the info about shortcuts, but these shortcuts are not apparent, and I would not know where to search them.
And about the idea of the possibility “use some input field management tool from chrome store” is not relevant if we want to avoid some password leak.
Let say it openly this is security threat and no one inside brave seems to care about it. That is apparent, if you try to search this topic inside this forum. At the point when I created this thread, there were many of threads already, so I tried to offer the some bad but solution for people who seeks it. And still nothing is happening with this topic.
I think that would be better to group inside of one feature request than to split forces even more, but I dont know how much they care about old threads, if they care about any thread, because I did not see any official discussion about this so far.
